Family of 19-year-old, missing from S.F., seeks help

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Friends and family of a 19-year-old man who is recovering from a recent brain injury are still searching for him one week after he disappeared in San Francisco.

Sean Sidi was last seen leaving the French American International School in Hayes Valley at about 11:40 a.m. on May 21, said his mother, Lynn Ching.

He called his father at about 1:30 p.m. and told him he was going to “the park,” but didn’t specify which one, said the family. When his father called his cell phone again at 2 p.m., the phone was dead or turned off.

The family hasn’t heard from Sidi since, Ching said.

Sidi fell in an accident and suffered a traumatic brain injury in November, and is still considered medically fragile, according to his mother. He retained his speech and his long-term memory, but has difficulty with his short-term memory and has trouble focusing. He is also easily fatigued, Ching said.

“When he was just released from the hospital, he went for a walk with his friends,” Ching said. “At the point where he became fatigued, his brain just stopped. He wasn’t able to walk very well anywhere. He could speak, but everything slowed down.”

Sidi was making progress in his recovery, and it’s more important than ever that he not get injured again, his mother said. She said it’s out of character for him to be out past 6 p.m., and to be out of touch with his parents.

“I’m worried he’s bumped his head, that he’s overly fatigued, that he may not be able to get the help that he needs,” Ching said.

There has also been no activity on his debit card, and he had little cash on him, Ching said. His cell phone carrier said the last signal transmitted from his phone pinpointed him within a 2-mile radius of northwest San Francisco, which includes Golden Gate Park and the Presidio.

The day he disappeared, he was visiting a former teacher at the French American International School. Ching said her son, a film enthusiast, made an appointment to see the teacher again soon to load some of the films he made while a student to an external hard drive.

Sidi was slated to begin studying arts and sciences at the University of San Francisco for the fall 2013 semester, Ching said.

Sidi is about 5-foot-5 and 120 pounds with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes and braces on his teeth. He was last seen wearing a black-and-gray hooded North Face rain jacket, jeans, black canvas shoes and a black splint on his left arm.

Anyone with information should contact Inspector Ann Mackenzie of the San Francisco Police Department’s Missing Persons unit, the anonymous tip line at (415) 575-4444 or text a tip to TIP411 with “SFPD” in the message.